summer suggestions from a teacher

As a teacher, here are some suggestions you can do to help your children continue learning over the summer, regardless of their age. 

1. Reading to your children.  Once children learn to read, they can still enjoy listening to stories.  Children almost always enjoy listening to stories even if they do not like reading themselves.  Parents can broaden a child's horizons by reading high quality literature aloud to them.  For younger children, I would start with some classics like Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  Books I would recommend for children age seven and older are Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, and Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.  Children may already be familiar with these stories because of school or movies, but they are worth reading aloud.  For other ideas, I would check this list, look at past posts on my blog, or ask your librarian.
2. Learning activities.  This covers so many things.  I would start by thinking about your child's age and what they will need to know to be a responsible adult.  That means teaching them how to do certain chores appropriate to their age.  Five year old children can learn to wash dishes.  As children get older, they can learn to cook, mow the lawn, wash the car, and do laundry.  Others things to do to help children learn are going to museums, touring local businesses or factories, growing a garden, doing things for others, and going to state parks.  Most of the time, parents and children are learning together and making memories at the same time.  You could also go to free community concerts or check out library books about different types of crafts.
3. Playing with your children.  If children only spend time with other children or sitting in front of a screen, they are not going to learn social skills that are necessary for life.  Interacting with children while playing builds communication skills and allows children to ask questions.  Playing board games helps children learn how to get along with others, follow rules, and develop problem solving skills.  If you and your child are not fans of board games, play outside.  It could be a structured game like baseball or soccer, or something less structured like biking, Frisbee, or hiking.  Going to the park, the beach, fishing, or boating are also some enjoyable ways to spend time outdoors.    You could also play school, store, restaurant, mail, or house.  Playing is actually a form of learning and can develop a child's cognitive skills.

A balance of reading, learning, and playing with your children will make some good memories for you both while helping them develop their minds.

triangles quilt

 I finished this quilt this mornings-the top I finished back in March.   I like the back as well as the front because it shows off the quilting.  I am linking to Amanda's finish it up Friday series on her blog.  This originally supposed to be a gift but am thinking about keeping it. 

pictures books for summer reading

Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes is the newest book about Penny.  It is my favorite of the three books about Penny.  One day she picks up a marble she sees and takes it home.  She loves the marble, but then realizes perhaps it belonged to someone else.  This book is for children three to seven.

A Spoon for Every Bite by Joe Hayes is a picture book that I recommend to my second and third grade students.  Set in New Mexico, this story is about a rich man who boasts of his wealth to his poor neighbor.  His neighbor is tired of the boastful man, so he tells the man he uses a new spoon every time he takes a bite of food.  Not to be outdone, the rich man attempts to do that as well, but finds out too late he has been tricked.   

Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester Laminack is a book I found at the library recently.  It tells the story of three ordinary hens living on a farm, and an unusual addition to the farm, Peacock.  The hens are jealous of Peacock because he attracts so much attention because of his beautiful feathers.  The peacock and the hens switch places for the day and learn an important lesson.  Preschoolers and grade school students would enjoy this story.

Read any good picture books lately?  

  

finishes

This week has been a decent week for finishing things.  The most prominent finish in my mind is finishing the school year.  I am checked out and done for another school year.  Despite it being the last week of school, I got a few other things finished, too.

I found time to reread the two novels above-How Sweet It Is by Alice J. Wisler and Sisterchicks on the Loose! by Robin Jones Gunn.  They were both worth rereading.  I would recommend Wisler's book to anyone who likes baking.  Gunn's book is for people who like to read about adventure and friendship. 

 

I also made four pot holders.  They make nice end of the school year surprises.  

This quilt top got put together, as well.  I started it back in April.  I think I am going to add a border so it is a bit larger.  Have you finished anything this week?

sewn book tutorial

Materials needed:  paper for inside pages, cardstock cover about a half inch longer and wider than the inside pages, embroidery floss or other string for binding (about twice as long as the spine portion of the book), one needle ( I use tapestry needles because they are not too sharp and that kind of needle has a big eye), two paper clips, and one push pin

1. Fold all pages and the cover exactly in half.  For best results, I fold each piece of paper separately.
2.  Use paper clips to secure pages together like shown above.  This will prevent the pages from moving around while sewing.

3.  Poke three holes about equal distance apart on fold line with push pin.  Sometimes I mark this with a pencil before poking the holes.   

4.  Thread needle and slide end of floss underneath one paper clip.

5.  Sew through center hole, then sew through either of the other two holes to other side.

6.  Now sew through remaining hole.  Your book will now look like the one below.  Sew through middle hole again. 

7.  Knot the two ends of the thread together around the center string by tying it twice.

8.  Clip edges, and decorate cover as you would like.  Clip edge of string about an inch from the knot.

I use copy paper for most of the books I make, but drawing paper works well too. 
These are easy enough to make with elementary students and can be done with a small group (5-8) in less than a half hour.  My students do everything except poke the holes with a push pin.  It is a fairly quick project and the fun part is decorating the book and filling up the inside.

Apples A to Z

Apples A to Z by Margaret McNamara is a new alphabet book I stumbled across at the library.  It has great information about apples and would be appropriate for preschool to any age elementary students.  It would be great to share with a class while doing a unit on apples or farming.  My favorite page is the one for letter V because it is for varieties.  The page shows 26 different varieties of apples, one for each letter of the alphabet.